Roland Ratzemberger was killed 10 years ago.

[Homem de Gelo]

Roland Ratzenberger was killed 10 years ago.

I remember watching it on TV. I was absolutely shocked with the accident. Until that exact moment, I had never grasped how serious accidents in F1 could be. Not even Barrichello's accident on the day before struck me because, all in all, he only had a bruised arm and a broken nose. But then came Ratzemberger's crash. It was horrible. My father was watching TV with me and he immiediately said "that guy is not ok, he'll die". Even though I was thousands of miles apart and only witnessing it form the TV, I had the exact same feeling. He could be unconcious for all I knew, but I was sure he was dead.

R.I.P

[motorsportnerd]

This weekend is the tragic anniversary of the worst weekend ever in Formula One history. Both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenburger were killed that weekend. This thread is an important reminder that motorsport can be dangerous. It is ten years since a driver was killed in F1. Lets hope it never happens again.
We had become rather blase about safety in F1 for a number of years prior to that. Prior to the 1994 Imola F1 race, there had not been a death in Formula One race for 12 years*. The previous occasion was at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix in 1982 when Ricardo Paletti was killed when his Osella Ford collided with the Theodore Ford of Geoff Lees.
We had forgotten that F1 could be dangerous. Many accidents had occured where we thought the driver couldn't survive, but they somehow did. Martin Donnelly's horrendous crash in Spain in the Lotus in 1989. Gerhard Berger's firey crash at Tambarello corner at Imola in 1989 - how he survived that one I'll never know. And others.
We are enjoying a similar fatally free era in F1. The cars, medical facilities and circuits are all much safer than 1994. Long may it be so.

It's important that we remember Roland Ratzenburger was also killed the same weekend as Senna. My understanding was the Ratzenburger was a talented racer who tended to lack funds. He wasn't in Senna's league, but he did have success in F3000 and in touring cars with BMW.
Let's keep this thread as a reminder of Ratzenburger's life. Put tributes to Senna in another thread.

*There was one death in that 12 year period, but it was during testing, not a race or race weekend. Italian driver Elio de Angelis was killed while testing at Brabham at Paul Ricard circuit in 1986.